The Storyline
The Harvard women's lacrosse team will begin play in the 2012 Ivy
League Tournament as the fourth seed when it takes on the
top-seeded host Penn Quakers Friday, May 4 at 8 p.m. in
Philadelphia, Pa. This marks Harvard's second straight appearance
in the tournament after reaching the championship game in 2011.

Live video and live stats will be available for all tournament
games through IvyLeagueSports.com.

What's at Stake Penn won the Ivy League regular season title with a 6-1
conference mark and the right to call itself Ivy League champion,
but there is still much to gain this weekend as the Ivy League
Tournament champion will receive the Ancient Eight's automatic bid
to the NCAA Tournament. Princeton earned the bid last year when it
defeated Harvard in the championship game, 12-10, while Penn won
the inaugural Ivy League Tournament with a 9-8 victory over
Dartmouth in 2010.

Harvard in the Ivy League Tournament Harvard has appeared in each of the last two Ivy League
Tournaments and reached the championship game in 2011. The Crimson
upset second-seeded Dartmouth in its first tournament game, 11-10,
before falling to Princeton in the final, 12-10. Melanie Baskind
(3g, 5dc, 3gb), Jess Halpern (3g,
2dc, 2gb), Danielle
Tetreault (6g, 1a, 4dc) and Jennifer
VanderMeulen (3g, 5dc, 1ct) were each named to the
all-tournament team.

Brown
Columbia
Cornell
Dartmouth
Harvard
Penn
Princeton
Yale

App.
0
0
1
2
1
2
2
0

Champs.
0
0
0
0
0
1
1
0

W-L
0-0
0-0
0-1
1-2
1-1
2-1
2-1
0-0

Pct.
.000
.000
.000
.333
.500
.666
.666
.000

First App.
--
--
2010
2010
2011
2010
2010
--

Last App.
--
--
2010
2011
2011
2011
2011
--

* Does not include 2012 Ivy League Tournament

Last Time Out
The Harvard women's lacrosse team scored six second-half goals en
route to a 7-5 win over No. 10/11 Dartmouth Friday night at Harvard
Stadium.

Jennifer VanderMeulen (2g, 2a) led all scorers with four points
while Melanie Baskind and Micaela Cyr added two
goals apiece. Harvard held a 21-19 advantage in shots and a 9-5
edge in draw controls, while converting 12-of-15 clear
attempts.

Kelly Weis
finished the night with nine saves, marking the seventh time this
season she has recorded at least eight in a game. Kyleigh Keating
came up with three draw controls, two ground balls and one caused
turnover, with Weis notching a game-high four ground balls.

Scouting the Quakers No. 16/9 Penn enters play in the Ivy League Tournament as
the top seed and host for a third straight year. The Quakers won
the Ivy League championship outright with a 6-1 conference mark,
and went 8-6 overall on the year. Penn's lone loss in Ancient Eight
play this season came April 14 at Dartmouth, 9-7.

Erin Brennan has scored a team-high 52 points this season on 29
goals and 23 assists. Meredith Cain (27g, 5a) ranks second with 32
points, while Courtney Tomchik (23g, 5a), Caroline Bunting (20g,
6a) and Maddie Poplawski (24g, 1a) have each added at least 25.
Poplawski is also the leader on the defensive end, having recorded
53 draw controls, 21 ground balls and 12 caused turnovers. Emily
Leitner has started all 14 games in goal and sports a 10.04 gaa and
a .427 save percentage.

Penn leads the all-time series with Harvard, 21-18, and picked
up a 14-13 overtime victory against the Crimson earlier this
season. Harvard led 10-5 with 16:23 to play, but the Quakers went
on a 7-2 run to close out regulation before Tomchik scored the
game-winner with just 0:24 to play. Melanie Baskind led the Crimson
with four goals while Micaela Cyr and Danielle Tetreault added
three apiece, and Kelly Weis came away with six saves.

Scouting the Big Green No. 11/13 Dartmouth posted a 10-4 record in 2012 while
going 5-2 in the Ivy League. The Big Green will carry a two-game
losing streak into the tournament after falling at Princeton, 12-9,
and at Harvard, 7-5.

Sarah Plumb is Dartmouth's all-around leader as she paces the
team in points (44), goals (33), assists (11), draw controls (71)
and caused turnovers (15). Kirsten Goldberg (33g, 10a) has
contributed 43 points while Liz Calby (20g, 5a), Lindsey Allard
(17g, 9a) and Hanna Bowers (16g, 6a) have each added at least 22.
Kristen Giovanniello has started all 14 games in goal and has
posted a 9.12 gaa with a .464 save percentage.

Harvard improved to 20-18-1 all-time against Dartmouth with its
7-5 victory a week ago and has won two straight against the Big
Green following its 11-10 triumph in the first round of last year's
Ivy League Tournament. Harvard featured a balanced scoring attack
this season against Dartmouth, as Melanie Baskind, Micaela Cyr and
Jennifer VanderMeulen tallied two goals apiece. The Crimson trailed
2-1 at the break, but outscored Dartmouth 6-3 in the second half to
steal the win. Kelly Weis made nine saves in goal and picked up a
game-high four ground balls.

Scouting the Big Red No. 14/10 Cornell has gone 11-4 overall this season with
a 5-2 mark against the Ancient Eight. The Big Red will be riding a
three-game winning streak into play this weekend after having
knocked off Brown, 16-8, in its regular season finale. Cornell's
losses in the Ivy League came at the hands of Dartmouth, 12-10, and
Penn, 10-11.

Cornell has been paced this season by Jessi Steinberg (44g, 20a)
and Caroline Salisbury (41g, 18) who have posted 64 points and 59
points, respectively. Olivia Knotts (30g, 15a) has added 45 points
while Katie Kirk (20g, 6a) and Shannon McHugh (20g, 2a) have 26
points and 22 points apiece. McHugh has also won a team-high 42
draw controls with Cacki Helmer collecting a team-best 46 ground
balls. Kyla Dambach has started 12 of 15 games in goal and boasts a
6-4 record with a 10.67 gaa and a .341 save percentage.

Cornell handed Harvard its first loss of the season, 12-6, but
the Crimson still owns a 22-11 advantage in the all-time series.
The Big Red jumped out to a 5-1 lead before the Crimson pulled to
within one, 5-4, with 19:51 to play. Cornell responded with a 4-1
run, however, to pull away for the victory. Micaela Cyr scored
three goals to lead the Harvard attack while Danielle Tetreault
added two, and Kelly Weis made eight saves in goal.

Turning Things Around At 9-6, Harvard is guaranteed to finish the season with a
winning record for the third straight year. The Crimson had gone 13
seasons from 1995-2009 with a sub-.500 record after enjoying a run
of 20 straight winning seasons from 1977-1996.

Streaking
Harvard has won each of its last five games, matching last year's
squad for the program's longest winning streak since taking seven
in a row in 1996. The Crimson has outscored its opponents 53-27
during this run while holding a 99-62 advantage in ground balls and
a 57-33 edge in draw controls.

Ivy League Honors
Freshman goalie Kelly Weis was named the Ivy League Defensive
Player of the Week for the second time this season on April 30,
bringing Harvard's total to five defensive player of the week
awards this season. Weis made nine saves and collected a game-high
four ground balls in the Crimson's 7-5 win over Dartmouth, marking
the fewest goals scored by the Big Green since a 14-4 loss to
Princeton on April 18, 2009. Weis was also given the accolade March
26 with 15 saves against just 12 goals in a 1-1 week for
Harvard.

Senior co-captain Melanie Baskind has been named the Ancient
Eight's defensive player of the week three times this season, and
most recently garnered the honor on April 16 after leading Harvard
to a perfect 2-0 week. Baskind totaled four goals, five ground
balls, five draw controls and four caused turnovers, and scored the
game-winning goal in both contests as the Crimson took down Holy
Cross, 10-4, and No. 18 Princeton, 10-7. Baskind also earned the
award April 9 after finishing the week with three points (2g, 1a),
eight ground balls and three caused turnovers, and was named
defensive player of the week for the first time in her career Feb.
27 after scoring three goals and collecting five ground balls in
the team's season opening 11-9 win over Boston University.

Perfect 10 Senior co-captain Melanie Baskind has scored at least one
goal in 10 straight games, helping the Crimson to a 7-3 record in
this time while going 5-0 in the Ancient Eight. Baskind has totaled
21 points on 16 goals and five assists during this stretch, and has
added 22 ground balls, 12 draw controls and nine caused turnovers
defensively.

Step Your Game Up Junior Danielle Tetreault averaged 1.90 points over the
Crimson's first 10 games, but has stepped her game up over the last
five averaging 2.60 points. Tetreault has notched 13 goals during
this span, including four in back-to-back games against Princeton
and Columbia.

Getting Defensive Harvard has held 11 of its 15 opponents to under 10 goals
this season, and has held five to five goals or fewer. Harvard
previously had not allowed five or fewer goals more than three
times in a season since 1995 when it did so five times. The Crimson
held Yale and Stanford to five goals and four goals, respectively,
in back-to-back games, marking the first time the team had
accomplished the feat since 2002.

The Crimson entered the week ranked fifth in the NCAA having
allowed just 7.73 goals per game, which would stand as the team's
lowest goals against average since 2008 (the last year complete
stats are available).

Between the Pipes
Freshman Kelly Weis has made all 15 starts in goal for the Crimson
this season, and entered the week ranked fifth in the NCAA with an
7.54 goals against average. Her .484 save percentage was 11th-best
in the country while her 7.13 saves per game were good for
45th.

Weis made 10 saves while helping the Crimson to a 9-8
double-overtime victory over No. 13 James Madison on March 6,
matching Kerry
Clark's total of 10 saves against Virginia last season for the
most stops by a Harvard goalie since Katherine Martino '10 recorded
12 in a 17-9 win over Boston College on May 5, 2010. Weis has made
at least eight saves in seven games this season.

Strength of Schedule Harvard currently sits at 9-6 on the year, with all six
of its losses coming against teams currently ranked in the IWLCA
Coaches Poll. Harvard has played a total of 10 teams which have
been ranked in either the coaches poll or the deBeer Media Poll at
some point this season.

Sharing the Wealth
13 different Crimson have scored a goal in 2012 with 10 having
scored at least four. Danielle Tetreault leads the way with 28
scores, while Jennifer VanderMeulen has notched 26. Melanie Baskind
ranks third on the team with 25 goals while Micaela Cyr has added
17.

Two Way Players
Midfielders Melanie Baskind, Micaela Cyr and Danielle Tetreault
have led the Crimson on both the offensive and defensive ends of
the field in 2012. Tetreault ranks first on the team in goals (28),
points (32) and draw controls (29), while Baskind is second in
points (31) and ground balls (34), and third in goals (25). Cyr has
collected a team-high 36 ground balls while adding 17 goals, and
ranks second in caused turnovers with 12 behind Baskind's
team-leading 13.

Home Field Advantage Harvard went 7-2 this season at home and 5-1 inside
Harvard Stadium. The Crimson has posted a 16-8 record at home over
the last three seasons while going 14-4 at Harvard Stadium.

Fielding Grounders Sophomore Kyleigh Keating recorded a career-high seven
ground balls April 21 at Columbia, the most by a Crimson
student-athlete since Melanie Baskind notched seven vs. Columbia on
April 23, 2011.

Sixth Sense Junior Jennifer VanderMeulen tied her career-high with
six goals on April 7 against Brown, marking the most goals scored
by a Crimson student-athlete since senior Tyler Petropulos netted
seven on March 7, 2009 versus Quinnipiac. VanderMeulen has scored
six goals three times in her career, including twice as a freshman
in 2010.

Drawing it Up Sophomore Kyleigh Keating recorded a career-high six draw
controls as Harvard out-drew Brown 17-9 on April 7. Keating's six
draw controls marked the most for the team since Kaitlin Martin '09
tallied seven on March 25, 2009 at Albany.

Getting Off on the Right Foot Harvard held both Yale and Stanford scoreless in the
first half and outscored the two 12-0 before the break. The Crimson
is 7-1 this season when leading at the half, 1-5 when trailing and
1-0 when tied.

Monumental Moment Harvard competed in the first-ever women's collegiate
sporting event held at Gillette Stadium, home of the three-time
Super Bowl Champion New England Patriots, when it took to the field
against then No. 2/2 Syracuse on March 31. The game was part of a
women's lacrosse double-header, as No. 1/1 Northwestern and No.
14/16 Ohio State took to the field after the Crimson and
Orange.

Former Crimson Named Finalists for National Lacrosse
Hall of Fame
Harvard alumnae Sarah (Downing) Nelson '94 and Maggie Vaughan '90
are among the 12 finalists on the 2012 National Lacrosse Hall of
Fame women's ballot. Vaughan helped Harvard to the program's first
NCAA Championship in 1990 and was a four-time Ivy League champion,
while Nelson was a two-time Ivy League champion and a three-time
All-Ivy honoree. Click here to read the full story.

Nail Biters Harvard played five games between March 6 and March 24
which were decided by a total of seven goals, with three of those
games being decided by a one-goal margin. The Crimson has played in
15 one-goal games under head coach Lisa Miller and sports a 7-8
record.

Overtime Thrillers The Crimson went to overtime against both No. 13 James
Madison and No. 9/10 Penn, marking the first time in program
history that Harvard has played in back-to-back overtime games.
Harvard is 5-5 all-time in overtime games and has never gone to
overtime more than twice in a season.

National Prominence
Harvard is currently receiving votes in the IWLCA Coaches Polls,
and opened the season ranked 19th in the deBeer Media Poll. The
Crimson moved up to No. 16 in the media poll after its
season-opening 11-9 win over Boston University, but has since
fallen from the ranking.

Week of April 30
April 23
April 16
April 9
April 2
March 26
March 19
March 12
March 5
Feb. 27
Feb. 20

deBeer Women's Media Poll --
--
--
--
--
--
--
--
--
16
19

IWLCA Coaches Poll RV
RV
RV
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--
RV
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RV
RV

Hat Trick Heroes Harvard has notched 15 hat tricks this season with
Melanie Baskind and Danielle Tetreault leading the way with four.
Micaela Cyr and Jennifer VanderMeulen have added three apiece.
VanderMeulen also leads all active Crimson with 25 career hat
tricks.

To Be the Best, You Have to Beat the Best
Harvard has knocked off a top 20 opponent in each of the last four
seasons, including three in 2012. The Crimson has had plenty of
opportunities to show its metal against the premier teams in the
nation this season, as 10 of the team's opponents have been ranked
in either the deBeer Media Poll or the IWLCA Preseason Coaches Poll
including Boston College, Cornell, Dartmouth, James Madison, John's
Hopkins, Penn, Princeton, Stanford, Syracuse, and Virginia.

Climbing the Charts
Junior Jennifer VanderMeulen and senior Jess Halpern currently
rank among Harvard's all-time top 10 scorers. VanderMeulen has
moved into fifth place with 130 career goals while her 148 points
have her eighth. Halpern has netted 117 career goals, good for
eighth in program history, with her 139 points placing her 10th in
the school record books.

In the News Harvard was featured by Lacrosse Magazine's Clare Lochary
on March 14 in her column, "Surprise Upsets Continue in WD1."
Lochary broke down the Crimson's double-overtime win over No. 13
James Madison and detailed its importance to the Crimson's
development under head coach Lisa Miller. Click here to read the full column.

Tewaaraton Award Watch List
Junior's Jennifer VanderMeulen and Danielle Tetreault were named
to the 2012 Tewaaraton Award Watch List, which is comprised of the
top 50 women's lacrosse student-athletes from all three divisions
of collegiate lacrosse. VanderMeulen and Tetreault are the latest
Crimson to be put up for the prestigious award, after current
teammates Jess Halpern and Micaela Cyr were nominated in 2010 and
2011, respectively.

VanderMeulen is coming off a season in which she was named to
the Synapse Sports All-America second team, IWLCA All-Region first
team and All-Ivy League first team after ranking 18th in the NCAA
in goals per game (3.0) and 30th in goals (48). She currently ranks
10th in program history with 104 career goals, while her 56 scores
in 2010 rank fifth on Harvard's single-season list.

Tetreault was a first team all-region and second team all-Ivy
selection a year ago, and ranked 31st in the nation with 2.63 goals
per game. Tetreault boasts 62 career goals, 17 assists and 79
points in 31 career games.

Captaining the Ship
Seniors Melanie Baskind, Ellen Gleason and
Tyler Petropulos were voted by their teammates as captains for the
2012 season. Baskind and Petropulos also served as captains last
season, making them just the sixth and seventh student-athletes in
program history to be voted captain in consecutive seasons. Carroll
Clark '92 was the first to do so when she captained both the 1991
and 1992 squads, and was followed by Daphne Clark '97 (1996 &
1997), Ali Harper '01 (2000 & 2001), Lauren Bobzin '08 (2007
& 2008) and Sara Flood '10 (2009 & 2010). This is just the
sixth time in program history three Crimson had been chosen to lead
the team.

Two-Sport Star Baskind Featured by New England Lacrosse
Journal
Senior Melanie Baskind, who captains both the women's lacrosse and
women's soccer teams and is an All-Ivy League honoree in both
sports, was recently featured by Sammi Gorman of the New England
Lacrosse Journal.

"In the city of Boston — a breeding ground for both star
athletes and top students at some of the world's best academic
institutions — Melanie Baskind is different.

"She's not the only student with a 3.8 grade-point average as a
neurobiology major at a top school like Harvard, and she's not the
only athlete to get league Player of the Year honors in her sport.
She is the only one to do those things and be a threat to earn
those kind of honors in two sports."

Historical Perspective
Harvard captured the program's first national championship in 1990
when it defeated Maryland, 8-7. The Crimson won four games that
season by a single goal en route to a 15-0 record, with Jenny
Walser '90 scoring the game winner in three of those four games,
including the national title contest. Julia French '90, Charlotte
Joslin '90 and Maggie Vaughan '90 were named first team All-America
following the season while Susan Carls '91 and Karen Everling '90
were named to the second team. Four-year letterwinners Everling,
French and Walser graduated with a career record of 50-8-1,
including a perfect 23-0 mark in the Ivy League.

The Crimson has made a total of nine NCAA Tournament appearances
and has reached the national championship game three times. Harvard
has also won 11 Ivy League Championships, tied with Dartmouth for
the most in conference history.